1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of pagers, and more particularly, to battery chargers for charging a pager's battery.
2. Related Art
Firefighters and other emergency personnel are often summoned from their homes in the middle of the night by means of a pager. They must dress and leave as quickly as possible, preferably without unduly disturbing other family members. Night is typically the only time that the pager can be recharged.
There are a number of devices in the prior art that include battery rechargers, emergency lights, timed lights, or sound or motion detectors. However, none of these devices includes a combination of features that the inventor considers optimum for emergency personnel.
Sciammarella, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,645) discloses a battery charger for a cordless telephone that includes a night light. The light is activated when AC power is lost and a phototransistor detects that the ambient light is below a preset level. The purpose of the light is to help the user locate the phone during low light conditions.
Scott, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,291) discloses an emergency light that is activated when the signal of a smoke alarm is detected. It includes a diffuse light source designed to illuminate an entire room or passageway to facilitate evacuation during a fire.
Allen (U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,071) discloses a system for actuating household lighting in response to sound or movement within a room. It also includes a timer, which turns the light off after a preselected amount of time has elapsed.
Smith, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,554) discloses a sound actuated light switch. It activates a light upon detection of a sufficiently intense audio signal. The light is turned off after a preset amount of time has passed.
Scott (U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,248) discloses a system for activating a lamp when an alarm or similar sound is detected. The system includes a light sensor that prevents the lamp from activating when the area the lamp is already illuminated. A manual on/off switch is also included.
No device in the prior art has all the precise features needed by emergency personnel. Thus, there is still a need for a pager recharger with a focused light source that is adjustable in space and direction and that is activated by a signal to the pager.